During an event Monday marking the 100-year anniversary of the first moving assembly line at the Dearborn-based automaker’s Highland Park assembly plant, Ford outlined numerous future production goals, including plans to increase its global flexible manufacturing to produce on average four different models at each plant around the world. It allows Ford to have greater adaptability based on varying customer demand by 2017.

Ford, which is on pace to produce 6 million vehicles in 2013, also projected 90 percent of its plants around the world will be running on a three-shift or crew model by 2017, which will help increase production time more than 30 percent.

“One hundred years ago, my great-grandfather had a vision to build safe and efficient transportation for everyone,” said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford in a statement. “I am proud he was able to bring the freedom of mobility to millions by making cars affordable to families and that his vision of serving people still drives everything we do today.”

The expansion plans are all part of Ford’s largest manufacturing expansion in 50 years with eight new assembly plants and six new powertrain plants globally to support growth and retain approximately 130,000 manufacturing jobs around the world. The majority of the new plants are slated for China.

Thanks to the moving assembly line, Ford was able to produce the 10 millionth Model T by 1924.
Ford

MAP is the only factory to build gasoline-powered, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles under one roof -- thanks to the flexible assembly line that allows numerous vehicles to be built on one line.

Additionally, Ford is expanding its capabilities in 3D printing, which creates production-representative 3D parts layer by layer for testable prototypes. With 3D printing, Ford can create multiple versions of one part at a time and deliver prototype parts to engineers for testing in days rather than months.

“Technologies such as 3D printing, robotics and virtual manufacturing may live in research but have real-world applications for tomorrow and beyond,” said Paul Mascarenas, chief technical officer and vice president, Ford Research and Innovation, in a statement. “We use Henry Ford’s spirit of innovation as a benchmark for bringing new technologies into the manufacturing process.”